Seeing Inside A Thermite Reaction

The world’s first look inside a thermite reaction. Use code veritasium at to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan. A massive thank you to everyone at Goldschmidt for making this possible. With special thanks to Dr. Axel Hoeschen, Christof Gassmann and Claudia Koch. 00:00 What is thermite? 00:51 Hans Goldschmidt and the first thermite reaction 05:55 The reaction as it’s never been seen before 14:57 How thermite welding works 17:43 I destroyed a laptop! 26:44 How thermite is made 31:11 Blow-torching thermite to show how reactive it is If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically. ▀▀▀ References: Archives from Goldschmidt Thermite via Wikipedia - From the past to the present. via - Hans Goldschmidt via Wikipedia - Goldschmidt, H. (1914). Gesammelte Veröffentlichungen (1st Ed.). Springer-Verlag - Menzies, J. (2015, January 8). Mechanic's Toolbox: Thermite Welding. SFMTA. - Kirshenbaum, A. D., & Cahill, J. A. (1960). The density of liquid aluminium oxide. Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry - Reichstag fire via Wikipedia - Images & Video: Karl Goldschmidt - Goldschmidt Chemical Factory - Henry Treffry Dunn Rossetti and Dunton at 16 Cheyne Walk - The Green Gown - Arsenic Green Dress - Kersting, Die Stickerin - Too Early Tissot Detail - Death Skull - British uniforms - Thermit in Practice - Thermite Ship Shaft Welding 1 - Thermite Ship Shaft Welding 2 - Using Incendiary Grenade to Destroy German Antitank Gun by OkraJoe - Reichstagsbrand - Ruins of the Reichstagsbrand - The Thermite Kettle by colinfurze - ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Albert Wenger, Anton Ragin, Ayush Agrawal, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Bill Linder, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, I. H., Jack Cuprill, John H. Austin, Jr., Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kirill Shore, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Reed Spilmann, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, TTST, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures, gpoly, john kiehl, meg noah, wolfee ▀▀▀ Directed by Derek Muller Written by Derek Muller Edited by Trenton Oliver Animated by Fabio Albertelli, Rokas Vikšraitis and Mike Radjabov Illustrations by Jakub Misiek Filmed by Derek Muller, David Bochmann, Casper Mebius, Luise Dietert, Henning Fischer and Harald Schweiger Additional Research by Gregor Čavlović and Gabriel Bean Produced by Gregor Čavlović, Derek Muller, Casper Mebius, Rob Beasley Spence, Emily Lazard and Tori Brittain Thumbnail contributions by Peter Sheppard, Ren Hurley and Casper Mebius Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Story Blocks Music from Epidemic Sound